8th November 1987 saw the first-ever World Cup Final in a venue other than Lord’s. The final in the Eden Gardens also gave Australia their first taste of the World Cup win which they went on to repeat four more times in the next 28 years. Australia and England were the two competitors in that Final as they beat more fancied Pakistan and India in the Semi-finals respectively.
The attendance in Eden Garden was not affected due to India missing out. In front of a packed ground Australian captain, Allan Border won the toss and decided to bat. The openers David Boon and Geoff Marsh were in good form and they started steadily to add 75 runs in the first wicket. Once Marsh was dismissed for 24 Dean Jones joined Boon and added another 76 runs in the second wicket. Boon was steady at one end and reached his fifty. Jones scored 33 before getting out. The fast bowlers Craig McDermott was sent up the order to up the run rate but he could score only 14 off 8 balls before being bowled by Graham Gooch and when Boon was also caught by the keeper Paul Downton it looked like England is on driver’s seat. However the little- known Mike Veletta played a crucial inning of 45 off just 31 balls. He and captain Border added 73 runs in quick time and Veletta’s innings ensured Australia finished on 253/5. For England, Eddie Hemmings finished with two wickets.
England lost Tim Robinson for a duck but recovered well to put up 66 in the second wicket. Once Gooch was dismissed, captain Mike Gatting joined Bill Athey and the pair added 69 runs. They were batting comfortably and with the score on 135/2 looked like it was England’s game. But Gatting played one of the most infamous reverse sweeps off Border’s delivery and was caught by the keeper Greg Dyer. That impacted England’s flow but still, Athey was in the middle and he built another partnership with Allan Lamb.
However, Athey was run out for 58 and Australia was slowly crawling back in the match. Two wickets were scalped in quick time before Steve Waugh provided the vital blow by going through Lamb’s defence. Now it was on the England lower order and despite some valiant tries including a 10-ball 17 from Phil DeFreitas it was too much for them. Australia restricted them to 246/8 and won the thrilling final by just 7 runs. It was the closest World Cup final before the madness of 2019 final. The two all-rounders Border and Steve Waugh finished with two wickets each on a glorious day for Australian cricket.
